Winter Wonderland

This past Thursday, we awoke to find the world covered in white. There was about 6 inches of fluffy snow everywhere and it was still coming down. Olive was, of course, THRILLED! Tim took her for her usual morning outing and she was so busy running in circles, she nearly forgot to do her business.

We left Olive at home while we drove to Tim's work. The roads were quite slippery, but the Neon made it there and back. We were very proud of the little car for making it up a hill that a pick-up truck was stuck on. Tim's fellow Torontonian co-worker was there already. When the weather didn't let up and the city didn't clear the roads the company president sent an email to say that unless you can walk, have all-wheel drive or are one of those crazy Canadian animators you should just stay home.

When Lindsay got back to the apartment, a few of the neighbourhood dogs were out running around so she decided to take Olive out to play. Olive spent about half an hour running in circles and being chased by four other dogs: Bob, Mona, Dune and Lito. Dune and Lito are 7 month old Whippets, so they got a bit cold after a while. Mona is a new addition, she's an Australian Cattle dog that Bob's family saved from going to a shelter after her previous owners were evicted from their house. She and Olive became fast friends, with Mona herding Olive around the parking lot.

One of our Australian neighbours, from the same building as the four dogs, tossed snowballs for the dogs to chase and catch. They all had a grand time and yet somehow when Tim got home Olive was still wired and wanted to go out and play again. She settled for dragging him to the poop area, the mail box, the poop area again (for real this time) and finally back to the apartment.

The Nutcracker

This past weekend we went to see the Nutcracker in downtown Seattle. It was quite different that the version in Toronto, it had a bit more of a modern styling to the set design.

They've been talking about the Nutcracker on the radio station we listen to for a while, so when our friends invited us to go with them, we decided to go. It's the 25th anniversary of the Nutcraker in Seattle this year, so I guess they were going all out. There were 11 of us in total, spread out in two rows at the top of the balcony. We saw the 1 pm show.

One of the radio commercials they played most often talked about the growing Christmas tree, which was built by Boeing. We thought it sounded really cool and had a picture in our head of what it would look like... Well, it wasn't quite as cool as it was in our heads, but it was pretty impressive.

After the show we went to a nearby vegetarian Chinese restaurant for dinner.

Campaigning for Disney

This past weekend we went to see Disney's new movie, Bolt. It was GREAT! At one point Lindsay was laughing so hard that there were tears streaming down her face and her cheeks hurt. Tim really, really liked it, too.

Here's the trailer:

So, if you get the chance this coming weekend, YOU should go see it too!! Unfortunately it lost at the box office this past weekend because of another big movie, but it deserves to be seen!!

Dinner with Family

A few weeks ago Tim's Uncle Wellington & Aunty Darlene were in the area and we got together at the P.F. Chang's China Bistro in Bellevue. Yes, technically they are Ompung's generation, but look how young and spry they are!

Thank you, Uncle and Aunty, for stopping by to visit and catch up over some tasty food. We had a really lovely time.

Happy Halloween

Carved by Tim.

35th Anniversary Dinner

Sormin's Anniversary Dinner

At the end of July, we celebrated Tim's parents's 35th anniversary with dinner at Sunnybrook Estates in Toronto. The whole evening was lovely. It started with a tour of the grounds and neighbouring building, then we went to the library for hor d'oeurve's and then into the dining room for our meal. Click on the picture above to see the rest of the photo's.

Black Bean Burgers

Black Bean Burgers
2 C 3 2 3/4 C 2-3 T 1/2 1/2 2 T	Cooked Black Beans (use canned or see recipe below) Garlic Cloves, crushed and roughly chopped Eggs Bread Crumbs Cilantro Green Peppers, diced Anaheim Pepper, diced Salt & Pepper Canola Oil
Combine beans, garlic, eggs, bread crumbs and cilantro in food processor. Blend until no large chunks remain. Transfer to bowl and mix in peppers. Heat oil in cast iron skillet over medium heat. Divide bean mixture into 5 or 6 sections. Spoon mixture into heated pan and press into patty shape. Flip when side has browned.

Black Beans
1 C 1 1/2 C 1 t 1 4 C +	Dried Black Beans Garlic Clove, crushed & cut in half Onion, chopped Cumin Seeds Bay Leaf Water
Sort beans and rinse. Combine all ingredients in pot. Boil for 3 minutes, remove from heat, cover and let sit for 4 hours. Strain beans in fine mesh sieve, return to pot, cover with water (about 1" above beans). Boil for 1 1/2 hrs, adding salt 30 minutes before done.

Photo's from the Cottage

Cottage

We've finally finished editing pictures from the cottage this summer. Here are a few samples, the rest can be seen by clicking on the picture above.

Long John

Abby smiling

Lake & clouds from the dock

Little bottoms

Mom on the beach

Olive's Birthday!

Today was Olive's first birthday. We celebrated by going to the dog park and then having a picnic at another nearby park. These are Olive's birthday portraits.

Fall

Our weather has cooled over the last few days, so much so that we used our fireplace for the first time since last winter. Olive spent most of the rainy Sabbath afternoon curled up in front of the hearth pressed up against her people. There's nothing like warming cold toes (or noses) in front of a crackling fire.

Acorn Squash & Zucchini Stew

This stew was made on Friday night. I've been trying to buy vegetables that I don't normally buy, in an effort to expand our options and try new things. We had tried Butternut Squash twice previously with success, so I decided to try an Acorn Squash. Both times we had the Butternut Squash we served it in a similar way to mashed Potatoes, once actually mixing in mashed Potatoes and I wanted to try something different with the Acorn Squash. I read a few recipes but wasn't quite happy with any single one, so I went in my own direction.
After dinner I wrote down the "recipe" and commented to Tim that had I read this in a cookbook I wouldn't make it because the list of ingredients is too long. However, it really did turn out quite well so I will share it with you.

Acorn Squash & Zucchini Stew
2 3 1 T 1 T 1 2 3 1 C 1 T Pinch 1 Qt. 1 C	Acorn Squash, halved, seeded & sliced lengthwise into 1" thick wedges Small Zucchini, cut into 1/2" thick coins Butter Canola or Vegetable Oil Medium Onion, diced Stalks Celery, chopped Garlic Cloves, minced Brown Rice, pre-soaked for 1-2 hrs Fresh Rosemary, finely chopped Nutmeg & Cayenne Pepper Broth (I used Imagine No-Chicken Broth) Half & Half Additional Broth if needed Salt & Pepper to taste Cheese (we tried Amadeus)
Arrange squash on greased baking sheet with sliced sides down and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place on lower rack in preheated 425º oven for about 30 minutes, flipping half way through. Add zucchini to pan when you flip the Squash. Heat butter & oil over medium heat in deep pot. Add onion, celery and a bit of salt. Saute until onions begin to brown. Slightly lower heat. Add drained rice, garlic, rosemary, nutmeg & cayenne pepper. Saute for a few minutes then add broth. Bring to a boil. When squash is cooked through, remove from the oven. If necessary, flip zucchini and return to oven for a few more minutes. Remove skin from squash. Mash 1/3 of the squash and add to pot along with half and half. Reduce heat to medium and stir until combined. Cube remaining squash. When rice is fully cooked add cubed squash and zucchini. If necessary add additional broth to thin out soup. Serve with a few thin slices of cheese on top.

Vancouver Aquarium & Stanley Park

When Allison came to visit us in Seattle back in February we went on a day trip up to Vancouver. One of the places we visited was the Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park. Here are some of the photos we took while there.



To view larger versions of the images, visit the Picasa Album.

Snuggles

Snuggling while we watch TV.

Every morning, after Tim gets up,
Olive hops up on the bed and sleeps with Lindsay.

Marinated Tofu & Stir-fry

Measurements are approximate. Adjust as you see fit. This made about 3 servings.

Tofu Marinade
2 T 2 T 1 T + 1 t 2 t 1/2 t 2 1	Sweet & Sour Sauce, Plum Sauce, etc. Balsamic Vinegar Low Sodium Soy Sauce Chili Sauce Ginger Powder Garlic Cloves, minced Package firm tofu, drained and sliced into 4-6 steaks
Combine all ingredients, except tofu, in bowl and mix. Put tofu in large zip lock bag and pour marinade in. Seal with some air still in the bag and gently move tofu around to coat. Refrigerate for several hours, mixing occasionally. Bake in 375º oven for 30 minutes, flipping once.

Since the tofu takes longer than the stir-fry, I put the cabbage (below) in the left over marinade from the tofu while waiting to add it to the stir-fry.

Stir-fry
1 T 1 1/4 t 1-2 t 2 1/2 1/2 3	Canola Oil Onion Red Pepper Flakes Low Sodium Soy Sauce Garlic Cloves, minced Jicama*, cut into strips Cabbage, sliced Leaves Kale, sliced
Heat oil in frying pan on medium heat, add onion and red pepper flakes. When onion begins to brown add soy sauce. Reduce heat; add garlic and jicama. About 5 minutes before tofu is done add cabbage and kale. Serve over rice.

* What is Jicama? I find it similar in texture to Water Chestnut, but with a milder, sweeter flavour

Chewbacca & a Picnic

A couple weekends ago we dog-sat for a guy at Tim's work. You can see a picture of her smiling face (and snaggle tooth) above. Her name is Chewbacca. Her family calls her Chewie for short and we affectionately nick named her Chew Toy. She's 10 years old and rather diminutive in stature, so she didn't really appreciate all of Olive's attention, but she did well at keeping Olive back without getting too snappy. Walking with two dogs on leash was interesting at times, especially when Olive tried to play with Chewie on the stairs, but we all survived.

On Sabbath our church held the service, and a picnic afterward, at a nearby park so we brought the dogs along with us. There were quite a few other dogs there, which Olive found nearly unbearable since she was confined to her leash.


















Our friends also brought their dog, Jack. He had a chain that screws into the ground and we tried attaching Olive's leash to it for a little while but had to stop when she nearly unearthed it trying to get at another dog who was running around off-leash.

Camping in Olympic Park

Here are some pictures from our camping trip on the July long weekend. We went to Mora Campground on the southwest side of the Olympic Peninsula in Olympic National Park. The Park is 922,561 acres, 95% of which is designated as Wilderness. The Wilderness designation basically protects the land from any development. Because we had Olive with us we were not able to go into any Wilderness areas - it's cougar country and dogs can attract them.


Mora has 94 campsites available on a first-come-first-served basis and when we arrived at about 2 am on Friday night there was only one site left. We parked the car, booked the site for the weekend and set up our tent at the base of a huge tree. Sabbath morning we walked down to Rialto Beach which allows pets up to the Wilderness line. It is covered in driftwood and is one of the most popular beaches on the Olympic Peninsula because of its sea stacks and tide pools. We brought a picnic lunch and spent a couple hours there. Sabbath evening we went to a presentation by one of the park rangers on Olympic National Park.












Sunday morning we were awakened nice and early by the sound of a puking dog (luckily we were able to shove her out the door in time). Since we were up we decided to go down to Rialto beach for a tide pool presentation. It was raining a bit in our campsite, so we put on the rain gear we brought with us and drove down to the beach. The tide pool is just past the wilderness line so we left Olive in the car with her breakfast and started walking down the beach. What had been a light rain in our campsite was being blown by strong winds down by the ocean and by the time we got to the tide pools the front of Lindsay pants were soaked (Tim had the rain pants). We were the only ones to show up for the tide pool presentation. The guide took us around, showing us the different creatures living there and we all tried not to fall on the slippery rocks. We walked back to our car, now thoroughly drenched, drove back to the campsite and found that there had been a mass exodus of the park while we were gone. After changing and noticing that we were running out of dry clothes and the tent was beginning to leak we decided to call it quits too and returned home a day early.












On our way to the park we had taken the long way around, through the cities, to avoid the ferry, but since we were driving in the day this time we decided to take the shorter route. This also meant that we got to drive around the north side of the peninsula, which had some lovely views.

There are more pictures in our picasa album.